The Aftermath (Chapter 2 is up!)
by emery4
Summary: The story begins after Riddick has saved Imam and Jack, they are now on Imam's home planet. Jack faces a tough life choice, she feels the pull to stay nearby Riddick, but does she have the skills necessary to keep up with the beast? At the same time Riddick feels slightly responsible for her, after all he did save her life….
1. Chapter 1

…**Pitch Black Aftermath**…

From when she was young she had always been around a rougher crowd. She bounced from one orphanage to the next, never truly belonging anywhere or to anyone. She never really knew a different way of living so she grew used to the constant game of leapfrog that was known as life. It wasn't until that fateful day when a ship crash-landed on a desert planet full of alien creatures that killed the whole crew except a holy man (Imam) and a convict (Riddick) that she realized her true destiny, or so she thought.

* * *

-**Some time after the return from the desert planet**—

* * *

"Imam, keep her out of trouble."

"I will certainly try, I owe you my life, wont you please stay a while longer, she is clearly terrified and frightened from the events that occurred on that hell hole of a planet. She seems calmer when you're around, safer."

"I don't have time to watch over children holy man."

Jack quickly tiptoed back up the staircase treading carefully, to not make any noise that would give away her location, even though she had a good feeling that Riddick already knew she was snooping, he knew everything. Riddick approached the door to leave. Jack envied him, and it was true that she felt safe around him even though he was a convict, and an extremely dangerous man. After all, he did save her life out of all the crew members from that ship. Jack was a tough kid and would never admit to anyone the fear she still had from the events that occurred while on that planet. However, she knew that her nightmares were a dead give away. Riddick was leaving, just like everyone in Jack's life. She felt a connection to him; she didn't want him to leave. She aspired to be as great as him. She felt as though she owed him something. No one had ever really done anything significant in her life, except leave her to fend for herself.

Jack was 16, with an attitude and mentality of a 20 year old. She was mature way beyond her years, and also had a stubbornness to her that would get her in trouble in the coming years. She didn't dwell on what people told her, or said about her. She had made up her mind that she would stay close by Riddick, that somehow, it was her calling and she couldn't see herself doing anything else other than staying by his side, like a sidekick, she wanted to be just like him.

Riddick wasn't a man, not entirely anyway. He was a Furyan, part man, part something else. This meant that his senses were fine-tuned and he was alert and ready to take action if need be in any situation. He was aware of changes in the atmosphere and could feel sensations from the wind. As soon as he left he knew Jack was attempting to trail him, as he half expected her to. He picked up his pace and headed toward the city, deciding that he would lose her if not on the way, in the populated urban environment.

Jack was out of breath as she was trying her hardest to keep up with Riddick through the alleys. He was losing her. She definitely needed to work on her endurance she thought. She saw him round a corner and sprinted after him, as she did so, her foot caught the edge in the pavement and she dove head first into the gravel. She broke the fall with the palms of her hands and knees, obtaining some scratches and a large gash down her arm. She got up on one knee to check herself out before she took off again. She spat out a mixture of saliva and blood from biting her lip on the impact. Her adrenaline was gushing through her veins, and she wasn't about to give up the chase after her hero. She couldn't bare the thought of losing him forever. She got up after deciding that she was fine and sprinted to the corner of an old rustic brick building. As she turned the corner there was no one in sight but a few pedestrians who stared at her and her bloody arm that she was cradling so the blood wouldn't get everywhere. Her anger was building as she realized that she would most likely never catch up with Riddick, meaning she would probably never see him again. Her stomach made a loud growling sound. She decided she might as well head to the city market to grab a bite to eat, and think of her next move.

Riddick had heard her little tumble and smelled the blood off the breeze.

"Damn it Jack!" he thought to himself.

Ever since he saved her from the creatures he felt a pang of responsibility towards her. He cursed himself everyday for having such feelings for the child. He couldn't quite pin it but he saw something in Jack that reminded him of his lost past. He had no memory of his childhood, only broken images of a burning village and a woman he always assumed to be his mother reaching out to him.

He climbed a fire escape and backtracked to Jacks location via the rooftops. He felt the afternoon sun beaming on his head as he felt the burning sensation. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, he wiped them away with the back of his hand. As he looked down upon Jack, he couldn't help smiling, thinking of how easy it was to lose her, how she looked like such a pathetic and sad creature. As she started to get up and check herself out, he once again set out towards the city to the hub station, where the ships came and went, in hopes of catching a ride.

Jack was feeling sorry for herself, and unsure of what to do next. She knew Riddick would be getting off the planet and laying low for a while, she just needed to figure out his next move. Riddick was a mysterious creature and figuring him out was next to impossible. It was going on 3:00 in the afternoon by the time Jack reached the market in town; she scanned the crowd for Riddick knowing that he wouldn't be around. It was bustling with people trying to buy last minute food, fabric or small items of value. Jack didn't have any money on her, but she was aching for something, anything to eat. She saw a fruit stand a couple paces down the path. There were all kinds of luscious fruits, from stark red apples, to vibrant yellow bananas that hadn't been picked too long ago. The barrel of apples was the easiest to access, since it was in front of the actual stand. Dust curled up from the people shoveling past her eager to make their final sales and head home to their families. Jack hadn't lifted anything in a while, not since before the plan crash. She got a little nervous as she made her approach. She followed behind a taller gentleman who held a basket with some dimly looking fabrics he had purchased to make a new robe, since the one he was wearing had holes and patches in it, not to mention the ends were stained a deeper brown from walking the streets. As she ambled by, Jack made sure the fruit sellers didn't notice her. She snatched an apple and tucked it up under her sleeve with her hand. Once she cleared the corner she diverted to another isle of stands not looking back, trying to act calm and get a safe distance away to enjoy her apple. The nerves of the act made her stomach ache even more, and she was desperate to finally get some food in her stomach. She quickly walked to the end of the market, sat up against a building on a stoop, and took a look at her grab. The apple looked delicious, no imperfections, and bright red like the others. It appear polished from the reflection of the afternoon sun. As she took a bite a woman walked up and stood over her.

"I saw what you did young girl, such actions are not tolerated in our town."

Jack looked up, her stomach tying in knots instantly. Behind the woman, two "town market" officials stood, beaming down at her and her apple.  
"Oh please, I'm a poor homeless young girl with no home and no food, I'm very sorry for what I did but I am starving." She said it with as much sap as she could muster, given that she had been out of practice.  
" I'm very sorry as well that you chose to run away from your parents, but that does not make it acceptable to steal from people who are making a living, your going to have to go with these men, and answer for your crime."

It all seemed so "by the book" to Jack, like a performance, unreal. The officials seized her by her arms, secured her hands behind her back, and carted her off to their jail just beyond the market. Jack was used to law enforcement and wasn't worried that anything would happen to her; she would most likely just sit in the local jail until nightfall, when they cleared the jail in preparation for the criminals to come in that night. They tossed her in the barred room with two others, an older man with a beard, and another person, slumped in the corner by their self. Jack sat across from the older gentleman underneath the window on a red wooden bench that bobbed under her weight as she sat down. None of the men looked up as she entered their environment, which was just as well, she didn't feel like talking to anyone at the moment, she just wanted something to eat. The community jail cell was old and needed to be redone. The tan colored paint on the walls was peeling off, revealing an off white undertone. There were only a couple benches in the room, of which had large pieces of wood missing from them and the ends were all splintered from age. Jack pulled her legs up to her chest on the bench and laid her head on her knees in an attempt to ease the pang of hunger.

" Where could he be?" she thought about Riddick. He must be on his way to board a ship off this planet but what ship, there were always so many ships entering and leaving planets everyday, going everywhere. She slowly drifted off as she thought of Riddick's whereabouts.

* * *

**…Several Hours later…**

* * *

"Wake up, get a move on inmate!"

She woke to an official tapping her on her shoulder with a light beaming down in her face making it difficult to see anything. Night had clearly fallen; she was relieved they were finally letting her go. As she got up to leave she was pushed up against the peeling wall, her hands were violently pulled to her back as they tied her up again.

"What was going on?" she thought, "Why aren't they letting me go, I barely committed a crime."

They guided her outside then shoved her to the dusty ground behind several others who were tied up. At the front of the group was a large transport truck that the town officials were loading the inmates onto, one by one, like cattle. Jack was terribly confused and was starting to panic.

"Lets go dirt bags, time to go to your final resting places!"

Jack quickly put the pieces together; all these people were being transported to penitentiaries; prisons!  
"Hey! I haven't done anything, why am I being included with these criminals? I took an apple, and barely even got one bite out of it, I'm not a criminal, and you can't take me!" Jack shouted to the nearby official, a sturdy looking man, his face was stone cold, like he was ready to put an inmate down face first in the dirt to get his point across. He approached Jack, his black uniform ironed perfectly that it could probably stand on its own. He stood over her and stared her down, and then he smiled and let out a thunderous laugh that Jack wasn't expecting.  
"Sure little one, we could let you go, but you are a prime example of the new standards of our town, we are cracking down on thieves, congratulations, you are now a criminal, now shut up and step up into the truck, I want to go home and take a shit." He grabbed her by her arm, and thrusted her onto her feet and up towards the back of the truck.

This was going to be a long night for poor Jack, where was her hero now?


	2. Chapter 2

The hub was full of bustling people coming and going from one planet to the next, business and pleasure. Several people stopped and stared as he walked past in search of a ship he could sneak onto. It was true that Riddick had a bounty on his head, he would always have a bounty on his head, but he knew that the typical citizen would be too afraid to even approach him, so he was used to all the attention. His moonshined eyes were also a spectacle to look at, not a common sight. The way the light reflected off the silvery lenses. His overall appearance was intimidating to say the least; his stare alone would ward off any interested onlooker.

It was dusk and Riddick needed to hop a ride. He didn't really have a destination in mind, but figured once he was aboard a ship it wouldn't be too difficult to seize. At one of the loading bays towards the rear of the hub he spotted a mid sized ship, just enough for a crew of 4 and some extra cargo. This was the perfect skiff to apprehend, and fly under the radar to any planet he would prefer. Instead of approaching it directly he went to crouch next to another locked down ship to "inspect" the exterior while he monitored the ship he really wanted, to try and spot the crew and the people he would have to deal with.

There was a thin young looking male on the wing of the port side of the ship examining the engine performing a preventative maintenance check on all the fluid levels and what not. The kid looked to be no older than 19, with very little facial hair. "He is not going to be an issue at all", thought Riddick. A man approached the kid, older, sturdier gentleman who looked like he could take a punch. His face was hardened from too many trips out to rough planets, performing manual labor or something along those lines. The bulky gentleman had a deep scar that ran from the bottom of his ear to his mid jaw. Riddick pondered on the incident that resulted in such a deep ugly wound. The kid and Scarface were chatting, but Riddick couldn't hear about what. The scrawny kid started shuffling his tools and putting things back in place as the other man walked up inside the skiff. The odds were in Riddick's favor, only 2 shipmates? "Too easy" he thought.

The ships lights blinked on and the skiff roared to life. Riddick felt the heat from the blasters as he moved out from behind his lookout position. The kid had walked up inside the ship, but the rear ramp was still down. How could this be so easy Riddick thought, it was almost as if he was meant to take this ship. Just as he was getting to the rear he spotted a tall, bronze, built woman to his right walking straight for him. Riddick always had a soft spot for gorgeous looking woman, which was maybe his only weakness.

"Looks like your lost big man." Said the bronze woman.

"Actually, I think I just found what I have been looking for."

"Oh really well I hope it's a boot to the crotch, because that's all I can offer you sleazebag."

"Such ugly words from such a beautiful creature…"

The woman placed her hand on her piece to the right of her hip, in an attempt to threaten Riddick.

"Oh please, you don't expect me to give up that easily sweetheart."

Scar face walked down the ramp to find out what was taking so long and was surprised when he came upon Riddick in a confrontation with the bronze woman.

"Do we have a problem here Rose?"

"This thing thinks he is going to get a piece of ass tonight, but he is sourly mistaken."

"If ass is what I wanted sugar plum, ass is what I would receive." Said Riddick, all to calmly.  
Scarface took an aggressive step towards Riddick looking down upon him from the ramp.

"You better move along, or ill have Rose here blast that smart mouth of yours right off your head." Said Scarface.

"I don't want any trouble, I know where I'm not welcome"

Riddick slowly turned to walk away but reared backwards into Rose, knocking her to the floor, her weapon scattered across the ground out of arms reach. Scarface grabbed Riddick by the arms and yanked him off of her and tried to slam him into the side of the ship, but Riddick was a step ahead of him and placed his leg in front of his causing him to fumble and they both went tumbling to the ground. Riddick then made a break for Rose's weapon. The commotion caused the kid to pop out from the ship to see what was going on.

When he saw Riddick and the others on the floor, it took him a good 30 seconds to realize what was actually happening. In that 30 seconds Riddick shoved past Rose and grabbed the pistol firing a round toward Scarface in an attempt to temporarily disable him. The round hit Scarface in the lower left leg, just left of the fibula, proceeding straight through and out the other side. Scarface collapsed, crying out in shear pain, and grasping at his leg. The shot had grabbed the attention of the guards of the hub, who were now on their way to Riddick's location. Rose was still on the ground, in shock of what had just happened, afraid to move. She had never been in a firefight before, and had only signed on to the ship to look after Shawn, her cousin, and make some extra cash on the side, transporting cargo from one planet to the next. Shawn had his hands in the air and was slowly backing into the ship.  
"You're coming with me kid," Riddick yelled, pointing the pistol at the Shawn.

He obeyed and backed into the ship, hands still in the air, fear stricken. Riddick, succeeding in his plans to take out the crew, now rushed up the ramp of the ship, he needed to get off the ground fast before his ship was swarming with guards.

* * *

-=Meanwhile=-

The level of darkness was the same, whether Jack had her eyes open or closed. There was a strong odor of mold and sweat from the collection of the other prisoners. They had been driving for what seemed like an hour or two now. She could hear people snoring and others talking silently about what was going to happen and where they were being hauled off too. Jack was leaned up against the side of the truck listening to the voices towards the rear. The heat was unbearable, the air was stale and there wasn't a breeze to rid it of the strong fowl smells. All of a sudden the truck slowed down and came to a halt. After a couple seconds she heard a door open and slam shut. Light was beaming through the cracks in the truck and she could hear distinct chattering amongst the guards. Then the back doors were unlatched and flung open, a very bright white light blinded everyone in the truck. Jack raised her arm to shield her eyes. A man was yelling at them to get off the truck. She started scooting towards the open doors, when she got to the edge of the bed; she squinted to see where she was. What she saw astounded her.

They were at the planets intergalactic loading bay, there were ships bustling about, landing and taking off. She was actually going to be carted off to another planet for stealing an apple. The man reached up, grabbed her arm, and tugged her down, causing her to loose her balance on the edge and fall off towards the ground; her left shoulder absorbed most of the impact and had made a strange popping sound. She must have fallen a good 3 feet off the back of the truck. As she tried to get up, a couple men swarmed her and grabbed her by her arms; lifting her off the ground, they started carrying her away. As soon as they got her up she had to bite her lip from the immense pain that shot up through her left shoulder. Jack wanted to scream out in pain but knew that would only worsen her situation. The guards brought her to an area with a bunch of wooden crates that typically would be used to transport animals of some kind.

As they set her on the ground they zip tied her hands behind her back. There were people with rifles everywhere monitoring the prisoners; no one dared make a run for it. The severity of the situation was beginning to weigh on poor little Jack, she was going to a prison on a different planet, how was she supposed to survive. Her shoulder was now throbbing from being tied behind her back; she was trying to fight the pang of tears back by biting her tongue and closing her eyes.


End file.
